


flicker in flight

by yurishika



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-04
Updated: 2014-05-04
Packaged: 2018-01-21 21:43:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1565072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yurishika/pseuds/yurishika
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yuzuru struggles with portraying Romeo for the school play and finds help, and inspiration, in his understudy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	flicker in flight

_Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight!  
_ _For I ne'er saw beauty till this night._  
Act I, Scene V

 

 

 

It feels like he can fry an egg on their coffee table, what with the heat in the room. Yuzuru frowns and grabs the AC remote, turning it on in full blast. It’ll be bad if any one of them gets heat stroke later on. He sighs in relief when the attempt is successful, then draws down the blinds so that the sun streaming through the windows won’t make the room any hotter.

He had barely plopped down the couch when the door rings, and as soon as he opens the door he jumps when books drop on the floor. “Sorry I’m late!” the newcomer apologizes, groaning as he bends down to pick his books up, which are a lot. Yuzuru wonders why he brought so many when they aren’t even going to study. “Jinseo and I had to finish something for science class.”

“It’s okay.” Yuzuru bends down to help pick up the books, most of them biology, most likely the terrifying project Mr. Plushenko is making them do. (He and Kanako had already finished theirs, the early bird perfectionist that he is.) There’s a jolt throughout his body the moment their fingers brush, but he tries not to gasp or show surprise. He had been trying hard not to for the past few months they’ve accidentally brushed fingers.

“Thanks.” The newcomer smiles and stands up straight, books to his chest. “Well …”

Yuzuru almost slaps a hand to his forehead for almost forgetting his manners. “Right, come on in,” he says, taking a step back to let the newcomer in. “We’ll be practicing in the living room. Go make yourself at home. My sister made some snacks, so I’ll just get them.”

“Sure.”

If Yuzuru had his way, then he would have never agreed to taking part in the school’s annual year-end play and agreeing to be the lead role at that. Acting had never been something that he wanted to do; the last time he did was because their class was required for a competition, and all he did was to play a mushroom in the background, not exactly something that would catapult him to play Romeo for _Romeo & Juliet_. But here he is, actually rehearsing lines because Ms. Abe had guilt-tripped him into taking up some extracurricular activity to raise his arts grade from a B to a B+. He’d always received As in major subjects and B+s in minor ones, and he’d like to keep it consistent by the end of the year.

But acting is a struggle, not so much on the memorizing of lines, but more on showing his emotions. Yuna, their director, had consistently complained about it during their initial script-reading. Yuzuru had constantly pointed out that he had never acted like this, but they’re excuses, and excuses are useless. He has committed himself to it, and he should give it his all.

Ms. Abe is more sympathetic and suggests that she reads his lines with someone. And with that, she calls his understudy—Michael Martinez, the new kid in town who shyly greeted him. Michael is in most of Yuzuru’s classes, finding friendship in Chloe and Julian. Sometimes Yuzuru would catch himself looking over his shoulder and see Michael sleepily doodling in class, occasionally nodding off, and he can’t help but smile. Kanako had caught him in one time, and she never shuts up about it.

So, okay, he has a crush on Michael Martinez. But who wouldn’t? Michael, as he has gotten to know over the next few months, is really nice and sweet, has a smile that can put the sun to shame, a laugh that sounds like a soothing melody to his ears, and many other metaphors that he can’t put into proper words and thoughts.

Today’s their practice, and they’re not supposed to come back until they’ve mastered the whole play, from memorizing lines to getting to know the character. Ms. Abe preferred the latter, because she wants to “make the audience feel the tragic that is Romeo.” And so here they are, browsing through their scripts. Yuzuru has already memorized a bit of Act I, and he thinks that’s a good start because Act I is already hard enough.

He carries the tray of snacks to the living room, where he finds Michael sitting on the couch. His eyes are scrunched up together in focus, scribbling in his script. “Hey,” he says, and Michael looks up at him, watching him set the tray down on the coffee table. “What are you writing?”

“Notes,” Michael replies. “About Romeo’s character and all. It might help if I take them down.” He hesitates, before adding, “Wanna have a look?”

“… Sure.” Yuzuru plops next to Michael on the couch, shifting a bit so they’re not too close to each other. He likes Michael’s handwriting, down to its curves and dots. He mentally shakes his head and concentrates on the notes on Romeo’s first appearance. _“Hopeless romantic, unrequited love.”_ “The scene where Romeo pines for Rosaline, right?”

“Right.” Michael nods, the tip of his pen on his lips. “I’m reading through his monologue, and that’s the impression I get from him.”

“But then he forgets about Rosaline the moment he sees Juliet,” Yuzuru says. “Talk about quick rebound.” He feels quite proud of himself when Michael chuckles at his comment.

“But the point is,” Michael continues. “Romeo is all about dedicating his life for love in the entire play. Sure, he and Juliet loved so purely, he tends to follow his heart over his head.”

“Like when he risked getting killed just to see Juliet in the balcony,” Yuzuru continues. “And when he killed Tybalt. And when he killed himself when he saw Juliet seemingly dead.”

“It’s falling hard and fast that is the ultimate tragedy of this play,” Michael concludes, shifting his gaze to Yuzuru. “Haven’t you felt that at one point in your life?”

“No.” Yuzuru shakes his head. “But falling in love, yeah,” he adds, as he remembers feeling like he had been struck a bullet train the moment he and Michael share gazes on their first day of school. “How about you?”

Michael bites his bottom lip, as if cautious in sharing this bit of information. But in the end, he nods. “Yeah. Falling in love, I mean.”

Yuzuru wants to ask who, but stops himself. He and Michael are not that close enough to go into this kind of conversation. Besides, his mind is wishful thinking again, something he does not need at the moment. “Well,” he says, grabbing his script and sitting up straighter. “Let’s start? Act I Scene II?”

“Okay,” Michael says. “You’ll be Romeo, then I’ll be Benvolio, then we’ll switch?”

“Sure.”

Yuzuru has to admit that it _is_ easier reading lines with someone who shares the role. Since they’re both playing the role anyway, they spend most of their practice working on their gestures, sometimes even blocking, aside from discussing what emotions they’re supposed to show to the audience. Michael is as efficient as he is when it comes to these things, going through the entire scene until he’s sure they’ve got it covered.

And then they reach the scene that Yuzuru has been dreading—Act I Scene V, the scene where Romeo and Juliet fall for each other and kiss in the Capulet party. He feels his throat drying up at the scenario, but Michael looks as nervous as he is. “Well …” he starts, eyes steady on the script. “Act I, Scene V.”

Michael is biting his lower lip, his eyes on the script. “Yeah,” he says, and Yuzuru can tell that Michael is equally nervous. “I think we should be rehearsing this with Yulia and Anna …”

Yuzuru nods, though feebly. Yulia is nice and all, but …

“I’ve never kissed anyone before.” Suddenly the room feels warmer than it was before he turned off the AC. And it’s ridiculous, to be honest. He used to not care about anything that involves dating and kissing and stuff that Kanako and Jinseo like to talk about and make a big deal out of. It’s always about books and studying for Yuzuru, and this is all new to him …

But suddenly he’s making a big deal out of it, too, of falling in love and holding hands and first kisses … When Michael looks up at him, eyes wide, he knows he’s sure about it.

Michael is still looking at him strangely, and he forces out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, sorry,” he says, his cheeks turning pink. “I’m really nervous about this kiss scene.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Michael says, shaking his head. “If it helps, I’ve never kissed anyone before either.”

Yuzuru thinks he feels relieved, and he hopes it didn’t show. Instead, he laughs another nervous laugh. “Well, the school’s Romeos, never been kissed. The play’s totally screwed.”

Michael cracks up, and Yuzuru thinks he should make another quip like that to make the other one laugh like that again. When he calms down, he licks his lips, and Yuzuru diverts his gaze back to the script. “Do you think we should, um, practice? For the kissing scene, I mean.”

“Well.” Yuzuru blinks; he had never really thought much about that. “If I’m going to kiss someone on a stage play in front of hundreds of people, then I suppose we should …”

“Wanna practice it together?”

Yuzuru’s not sure if he heard right. _Practice? Kissing? Together?_ He’s pretty sure he’s not in a drama or a manga where his wildest daydreams come true easily like this. But when he looks back at Michael, the other boy is gazing at him intently, uncertainly, and hey, this is actually happening …

“Um …” Michael panics, sending his script to the floor. “I-I’m sorry—t-that was a r-really stupid s-suggestion—I-I just—um—” He shakes his head, bending down to pick up his script. “Forget it—”

“Just what?” Yuzuru asks, taking Michael’s script and tossing it to the coffee table, his heart pounding faster than the drums that beat during halftime performances in school games.

“Yuzuru …”

There’s a sudden click in the back of Yuzuru’s mind, a realization. If Kanako were here, she’d slap him at the back of his head and mutter something about being so dense, and for once, Yuzuru thinks he deserves that slap. Slowly, his hand finds its way on top of Michael’s, and says, “Sure.”

Michael’s eyes widen again, not expecting the answer, his hand not shying away from Yuzuru’s grasp. “Really?” he asks, voice squeaking.

Michael is cute, really cute. “Yeah, really,” he says, finding courage from somewhere within him. “If … if I’m going to practice my kiss with someone, I want it to be you.”

“Oh.” The other boy breaks into a grin, his cheeks flushed as he scrambles for the script. “Well, uh … great. Um … we should—”

Yuzuru stops him before he can even grab the script, and Michael looks at him curiously. This is going to be so cheesy, and this isn’t even the part where Act I Scene V starts, but he’s beyond caring at this point. “ _Then move not, while my prayer’s effect I take. Thus from my lips, by yours, my sin is purged._ ”

Michael blinks, but inches closer, as if nervously. “ _Then have my lips the sin that they took_ ,” he recites, in reply, eyes drifting to him expectantly, and this is his chance.

“ _Sin from thy lips? O trespass sweetly urged! Give me my sin again._ ”

And that’s when he leans in.

He doesn’t exactly know what a kiss is supposed to feel like, but there’s electricity, a jolt coursing through his entire body the moment their lips touched. He catches Michael’s eyes widening momentarily before they flutter closed, and before his own eyes close as well. The butterflies in his stomach are going haywire right now, and he guesses it’s a good thing.

They’re sitting side by side, and kissing in their position feels a little awkward, so Yuzuru tilts his head to the side, never letting their lips break apart. Michael brings a hand to his arm, pulling him closer, sighing when Yuzuru complies.

He doesn’t know how long they’ve been kissing, and Yuzuru thinks the room has gotten hotter when he pulls away, though reluctantly. The other boy’s eyes are half-lidded, his lips swollen. Yuzuru wishes he can lean in again, but his eyes drift to the scripts that are now on the floor, and he wonders how those got there.

“Um,” he says, his tongue almost twisting, fumbling for words. “How was it?”

The smile on the other one’s face gives him a flicker of hope, and its surreal how this has only been in his daydreams before. Michael looks down and laughs shyly, a melody to his ears once more. “It was …” He pauses and looks up at him, a sparkle in his eyes. “It was special.”

“Really?” Yuzuru can’t control the grin that starts spreading on his face, and he has to bend down to pick up the scripts to somehow control himself. “I feel the same way.”

Michael takes the script, and there’s relief in his expression, like he had been nervous about liking and kissing, the same way Yuzuru had. His eyes drift to his watch, and he sighs. “Well, it’s getting late,” he announces. “We gotta … um, go.”

“One last practice?” Yuzuru offers. “Maybe …” His grin is enough to reach his ears, he thinks. “Maybe just Act I Scene V?”

Michael laughs, and he’s the one who leans in this time. “Sure, but enough talking,” he says, before closing the distance between them.

**Author's Note:**

> \- cross-posted to [taisetsukotoba @ lj](http://taisetsukotoba.livejournal.com/2603.html) and mizurumonday @ tumblr  
> \- the title of the fic came from the lyrics of the song _gemini_ by sponge cola.  
>  \- this fic stemmed from the fact that both michael and yuzuru skated to _romeo & juliet_ for the 13-14 season.  
> \- i actually wanted to write the whole process of rehearsing the play with mizuru falling in love in between, but i seem to have lost the essence of michael being an understudy and the whole character analysis of romeo, so i let that go and shortened this instead.  
> \- again, dedicated to #teamyelobear, as well as tropical friends. <3


End file.
